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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Jeff Gillette’s paintings juxtapose the ruinous landscapes of shanty towns with the flourishes of Disney theme parks. In a new show at Copro Gallery, titled "Worst Case Scenario," the artist's latest explorations are shown. The show runs through July 7 at the Santa Monica space. Gillette was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Artist Amy Sol has always had a special affinity for forests and nature. Though she now lives and works in the dry desert region of Las Vegas, she spent her childhood years in Korea, where the landscape is dotted with lush evergreen forests. In fact, it could be said that forests taught her how to paint- when Amy Sol was little, she would pause VHS tapes of Disney classics and copy the Tyrus Wong oil backgrounds in Bambi and Eyvind Earle's stylized landscapes in Sleeping Beauty.
Vania Zouravliov (HF Vol. 16) mixes elements of innocence, sexuality, beauty and decay into his intricate, colorless illustrations. Russian born and currently based in London, Zouraliov's begins each piece without sketches, allowing the narrative of his dark universe to flow as the work progresses. From an early age, Zouravilov was inspired by The Bible, Dante's Divine Comedy, early Disney films, and North American Indian imagery.
On Saturday night, Los Angeles pop-up space 80Forty transformed into Lola's "The Younger". Her exhibition, 2-years in the making, tells the personal story of Lola's creative upbringing in an environment full of personal touches. The space included her own fireplace mantel, as seen in our studio visit, with decorative furniture and 3d pieces on display. As the title suggests, we follow the 'younger' Lola into adulthood through a series of playful symbolism. In her youth, Lola spent time drawing with her father, also an artist, and playing with the toys inherited from her grandparents. These experiences find their way into her paintings, featuring Alice in Wonderland-like little girls in whimsical situations.
On December 13th at 80Forty gallery, Lola will debut her first major exhibition in two years, and perhaps her most personal, "The Younger". Her new series of twenty oil paintings also includes some of her largest to date. When we visited her studio in Los Angeles this week, she described it as "something to really get lost in". Her childish characters embark from their storybook lands into unfamiliar territory- Lola's childhood reality. The spirit of a 'younger' Lola is present in images of freckled young girls playing with reimaginatings of toys like Pacman and Pez. In this new world drawn from memory, Lola tells us the story of her creative upbringing. We took a moment to discuss her exhibition while she worked.
French duo Ciou and Malojo create illustrative works that combine their wildest fantasies and nightmares. Their previous show for Cotton Candy Machine gallery (covered here) displayed Malojo’s cartoony characters infused with colorful patterns, while Ciou’s work was mostly monochromatic. Their next show, “Freaks and Wonders” opens September 4th at White Lady Art in Dublin, and is inspired by scenes of celebration during seasonal holidays.
On Saturday, just hours before the event, Corey Helford disclosed the location of artist Brandi Milne’s emotional new work, 2-years in the making. Their large warehouse pop-up space hosted a carnival-style opening, complete with cotton candy, but thematically, “Here Inside My Broken Heart” is Milne’s most intimate show. Milne’s latest series of paintings interprets the ups and downs of her own broken heart with layered imagery. Her sugary sweet, lyrical paintings are far less literal than her previous offering at Corey Helford, “Before I Hide Away” (covered here). Gone are the handwritten quotes Milne strung throughout her narrative, perhaps allowing her work to speak for itself. Read more after the jump.
Appropriation art has boomed since Dina Goldstein began her “Fallen Princess” photo series in 2007, which debuted at CHG Circa last Saturday. All over the world, artists seem to be re-contextualizing pop-culture characters in unfortunate situations. Goldstein’s new work may fit into this trend, but she isn’t making a commentary about Disney. As a female visual artist and pop surrealist raised in Tel Aviv, she’s taking an honest look at the challenges that modern women face. Hers is a tongue-in-cheek remark about ideals of beauty and dreams, and how that fits into real-world ‘happily ever afters’. Read more after the jump.